Group Dynamics I

They say (whoever ‘they’ are) that the success of most things is all about timing. The timing of baking a loaf of bread. The timing from here to there. The timing of…….well most things I guess. The timing of establishing new relationships is of concern to me this morning. In this case it involves group dynamics. When someone new - let’s call him Willie for now - enters an already established relationship there are two possible outcomes. An immediate and polite welcoming or an extreme not so welcome. 

My challenge has been to facilitate the former. This ‘established group’ and the newcomer need space. The only space they have to share, at least this morning, is the kitchen/dining room/living room. So everyone has to hold still and pay attention to whether teeny tiny hisses or equally teeny tiny licks are in the offing. Right now, it is more often the hisses - rather like air leaking from a small tire - when one of the big dogs approaches too quickly, too closely or even thinks about it. As the de facto ‘pack leader’, it is my job to maintain control of the pack, along with a good dose of calm. The ‘stare downs’ are the most interesting and sometimes downright funny. Who backs down first? Who turns away first? It does vary but this tiny kitten with an uncertain name as yet, does tend to get bored with this silly game and back up, turn around and go find something more interesting to play with like a scratching post, or a curtain to climb (NO!!) or a pillow to snooze on. The occasional gentle but very firm reminder to my grand dogs to stay down asserts my 'pack leader' status.

All is calm and quiet. But…. What if I take a nap? What happens when I go to bed tonight? Or even if my back is turned while I load the dishwasher and remove the kitten before closing the door? My ‘eyes in the back of my head’ mom feature, I was sure, was a bit rusty. In the past, that alert has always been well timed. So I listen for the tinkle of collar tags, click of nails on the floor, and a tiny hiss to set my alert system to active. Even if a wee bit rusty, the eyes in the back of my head are open and work pretty darn good for these curious canine and feline grand-kids of mine.

“If the timing’s right and the gods are with you, something special happens.”

~ Rick Springfield

The Time it Takes

Watching all the stories

on the ferry surrounding

boys and girls, 

men and women

walking  talking   strolling

outside in wind and sunshine

looking for whales or dolphins

inside in line ups and play areas

looking for coffee, tea or hamburgers

(and shopping)

is really not too difficult

in the 90 minutes from 

Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen!

“But how could you live and have no story to tell?”

~ Fyodor Dostoevsky, White Nights

Walking the Tracks

In my blog from October 6th, I wrote about what I called a Whirligig Weekend. The annual Victoria Festival of Authors, held from October 02 - 06, 2019, set my head spinning. And I only attended five of the eighteen scheduled events! Earlier in the week, I had other commitments which probably saved my poor brain from absolute overload.  I’ve titled this blog post ‘Walking the Tracks’ because of the photo on the front of the event booklet. My experience truly was ‘walking the tracks’ laid down by the authors that I was able to listen to. 

Starting Friday morning, all morning, I attended the Art of Storytelling to listen to author Richard Van Camp. Our small group, gathered around a long plank table, was all ready, pen in hand and lots of paper. Ready to hear the structure of storytelling that has won him success. Instead, we listened Richard’s stories and the wave that he took them through. Throughout he asked us for stories of our own which several of us shared. Was I disappointed that my ‘class room persona’ had not had a good work out? Maybe a little bit, but by listening to the flow of story I heard the Art of Storytelling.

Saturday was full. First on the schedule Riel Work: In Conversation with Jean Teillet & Gregory Scofield. Jean Teillet, the author of The North West is our Mother is an amazing speaker, is the grand niece of Louis Riel. She has an accurate story of Louis Riel and explained so much Canadian history from that time. 

The next event, before lunch and moderated by Robert Wiersema, was Immaculate History shared by graphic novelist Sarah Leavitt, poet Erin Mouré, and author Steven Price.The inspiration for their works were figures ~ legendary or real ~ taken from written history or personal experience. The crafting of these works in these diverse genres is quite amazing to me. 

Walking outside in the fresh air between events for lunch was to take a deep breath and revive some energy before diving into the afternoon’s event moderated by Marita Daschel: In the Beginning……with authors Carla Funk, Yasuko Thanh, Meenal Shrivastava, and Samra Zafar. Each author brought us works about the changes they had wrought in their lives. From various rigid childhood experiences to articulate and confident writers, each story was the same in the strength of character that they each found and developed. Different only in details and geography.

Sunday morning, the final event that we attended, was moderated by Robert Wiersema. Titled Wayfinding: Is that a path there? ‘The quest is one of the oldest plot devices going…….’ and is the focus for novelist Cherie Dimaline, poet Pauline Holdstock and debut novelist Karen McBride. Discussion about character development was the most interesting to me.

So, did I buy one of their books ~ some set for awards? Have you ever heard the phrase: ‘So many books, so little time?’ Well, I restrained myself and did not purchase any books in favour of the books I’m already reading. However I have the list of these books as the ‘next to read’ for me. The list is below so you can also add to your own ‘so many books’ list.  

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough 

or a book long enough to suit me.”

~ C.S.Lewis

Authors and Book List

Richard Van Camp: We Sang You Home - children’s book in Cree and English

Jean Teillet:  The North-West is Our Mother - accurate history of Louis Riel

Sarah Leavitt:  Agnes, Murderess - graphic novel

Erin Mouré:  The Elements - poetry

Steven Price:  Lampedusa - novel

Yasuko Thanh: Mistakes to Run With

Carla Funk: Every Little Scrap and Wonder

Meenal Shrivastava: Amma’s Daughters

Samra Zafar: A Good Wife

Cherie Dimaline: Empire of the Wild

Pauline Holdstock: Here I Am!

Karen McBride: Crow Winter

Book Review: The Girls with Stone Faces by Arleen Paré

The Girls with Stone Faces by Arleen Paré revealed a small piece of Canadian artistic history that I knew nothing about, but learned in the discussion at our book group yesterday afternoon. Our host had generously researched Florence Wyle and Frances Loring, “two of Canada’s greatest artists…” Florence and Frances met in 1906 at the Art Institute of Chicago. Arleen Paré, the Governor-General award winning author of Lake of Two Mountains, tells us of encountering their sculptures for at least a second time……

“but this time I was 

struck stuck pinned to the air suspended

if I could have stroked 

every surface   but   there was a guard at the door   I knew only distillate awe

a welter of bliss.”

This slender volume and its poetry, stories their lives, their sculptures and even the hard work of sculpting, many sculptures life sized or larger. Arleen Paré’s poetry, in a very visual sense, describes beautifully only some of their sculptures wrought in stone, and some about the difficulties that these two women faced in the early 20th Century. 

My initial reading of Arleen Paré’s poetry was difficult as I found it unlike any other poetry I have read in the past. However, hearing her poems read aloud by members of the group, I felt and heard the flow that I had missed in my own reading. This is a book of poetry that I keep on my book shelf - not just for the poetry but for the Canadian history. I hope to see at least one of their sculptures in time.  

“And poetry can also be sculpture, 

or at least it’s more like sculpture than it is a conversation.”

~Michael Redhill 

(quotation used in the front of The Girls with Stone Faces)

Title: The Girls with Stone Faces

Author: Arleen Paré

Copyright: 2017

Publisher: Brick Books

Type: Poetry

Format: Soft cover, PDF and EPUB 

ISBN: 978-1-77131-464-0 (Soft cover)

ISBN: 978-1-77131-466-4 (PDF)

ebook ISBN: 978-1-77131-465-7 (EPUB)

Delicate Silence

Beacon Hill Park in the dedicated space for
tree trunks needing a place to rest in their time of decay. 

The silent growth of

tree fungus and mosses

colours cut and fallen logs

that offer deep crevices

for the delicate lives 

that too often go unnoticed.

“Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.”

~ Henry David Thoreau

Autumn Rain

Taking a break

for a walk today

while the rain rained ~

~ A single rose

caught my eye in mid stride,

steady raindrops brightened,

monotones of silver-grey rain

broken, slate grey clouds hovered

over shining gilt encrusted

lacy green-gold leaves, 

pinpricked by autumn dryness ~

softened by the fall of autumn rain.

“ If the rose puzzled its mind over the question how it grew, 

it would not have been the miracle that it is.”

~ J.B.Yeats

Whirligig Weekend!

Canadian Writers and Authors ~

Storytelling, poetry, prose 

history, fiction and memoir

Two days filled 

with creative voices and ideas......

More to come......

one more event this afternoon..

Phew!!! My brain is awhirl with fascination and new ideas!

“To me, the greatest pleasure of writing is not what 

it’s about, but the music the words make.”

~ Truman Capote, Truman Capote: Conversations